Paullina Simons

Paullina Simons was born in Leningrad, Russia in 1963. At the age of ten her family immigrated to the United States. Growing up in Russia Paullina dreamt of someday becoming a writer. After graduating from university and after various jobs including working as a financial journalist and as a translator Paullina wrote her first novel Tully. This was followed by Red Leaves, Eleven Hours, The Bronze Horseman, The Bridge to Holy Cross, (also known as Tatiana and Alexander.) The Summer Garden and The Girl in Times Square.

(Tatiana nervously looked down at the present.
"Thank you".
Gifts were not something she was used to. Wrapped gifts? Unheard of, even when they came wrapped only in plain brown paper.

No. Open first. Then say thank you.

She smiled.

What do I do? Do I take the paper off?

Yes. You tear it off.”

And then what?

And then you throw it away.

The whole present or just the paper?” Slowly he said, “Just the paper.”

and but you wrapped it so nicely. Why would I throw it away?

It’s just paper.

If it’s just paper, why did you wrap it?

There will be only one standard, the standard of survival at all cost, and it will be up to you to say at what price survival.Hold your head high, and if you are going to go down, go down knowing you have not in any way compromised your soul.

Pulling him by the arm, Babushka said “That’s enough. Tania, you do whatever you have to do to survive, and damn your soul.”

That’s the saddest loss of all, to go on for a few weeks, a few days, a night, a minute, and think everything is still all right when the structure you’ve built your life on has crumbled. We should have been mourning you, but instead we made plans, went to work, dreamed, loved, not knowing you were already behind us.”

Ask yourself three questions and you will know who you are. Ask 'What do you believe in? What do you hope for? But most important - ask what do you love?